Senate
passes Sen. Brady's hate crimes commission legislation
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[May 11, 2007]
SPRINGFIELD -- The governor's
appointments to the state's
Commission on Discrimination and Hate Crimes would need
legislative approval, under legislation sponsored by state Sen. Bill
Brady, R-Bloomington, and passed by a unanimous vote of the Senate
on Wednesday.
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The 44th District senator is working on the issue with state Sen.
Ira Silverstein, D-Chicago.
Senate Bill 1047 requires Senate approval of the 21 members
appointed by the governor to the Commission on Discrimination and
Hate Crimes.
"Many of the governor's appointments to other state boards and
commissions require Senate approval," Brady said. "Given the
important matters that the Commission on Discrimination and Hate
Crimes considers, its members should be scrutinized to avoid the
kind of controversy the commission generated last year."
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![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2007/May/11/images/ads/current/logan%20county%20bank%20sda%20040707.png) The Commission on Discrimination and Hate Crimes caught the
public eye when, in March 2006, gubernatorial appointee Sister
Claudette Marie Muhammad invited several commission members to a
speech by Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan. When several
members expressed their outrage at some of Farrakhan's controversial
remarks, Gov. Rod Blagojevich voiced his support of Sister Muhammad.
As a result, a number of members resigned from the commission.
Senate Bill 1047 now moves to the House of Representatives for
further consideration.
[Text from news release sent
on behalf of
Sen. Bill Brady and received
from Illinois
Senate Republican staff]
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